The Fight for Creation: Book 02 - Scout Warrior (29 page)

Jixie hugged her mother and felt her tears. She was shocked when her mother appeared in a human form. “I don’t want to shock the locals.” Jixie turned to Sam and he took her hands and faced the priest.

“Do you Jixie take this man to be…”

• • •

The Realm watched the Realm’s greatest warrior marry a being from another place and they saw the love they shared. When the priest finally said, “You may kiss your bride.” The millions of planets held their breath. “I present to the Bristone Realm the Duke and Duchess Robbins.” The celebrations were immediate.

The citizens of Ross had gathered at Castle Gardner and the explosion of cheers shook the walls. Ten minutes later when the new couple appeared on the main spire at the Castle a massive celebration exploded around the planet. Music was broadcast and there was dancing in the streets. The King and Queen of the Realm teleported in to the Spire joining Sam and Jixie and the celebrations really wound up and started in earnest. The entire Realm was in festival and the loyalty to the crown was back to what it was during the first rulers of the Ancient Stars Realm. Sam and Jixie waved to the crowd and celebrated their joining. For a moment, war was put aside and love was in the air.

• • •

Pride looked up and saw that the Mother was strengthened in a remarkable way by the celebrations. The damage she had been enduring was healing and he knew there was now hope for the future. Her slow death had been stopped and even reversed.

He looked at the happy couple and wondered what lay ahead of them. He sensed forces operating against them and feared for them. He shook his head and remembered that love conquers all. He prayed that would be the case but worried about what lie ahead. He put the thoughts aside and joined his species as they reveled in the joy. The view of the Royal Families at Castle Gardner was still being sent to the citizens of the Realm and every planet felt their connection to other planets in the Realm. For the first time in more than a thousand years, the Realm was united in a way that would not be lost.

• • •

Jon looked at Sam, “I think you might have made a better King.”

Sam shook his head, “I am right where I belong fighting for the Realm. You are where you should be leading our efforts. You have always been the steady hand and that’s what we need in a King. I don’t possess your patience.”

Maranda hugged Jixie, “Well, how does it feel to have a last name?”

Jixie’s bright smile was immediate, “It grows on you. It has a nice sound.”

“Doesn’t it?”

They turned back to the cheering millions and waved.

• • •

A month passed in whirlwind fashion and Jixie teleported to El Prado. She found Pride and Vremel waiting on her. “Thank you for coming, Vremel.”

“I’m always available for you, Your Highness. What do you need?”

Jixie sat down on the ground and smelled the blooming trees. It was wonderful. She opened her eyes and said, “You’ve not been sending us against the real trouble makers out there.”

Pride looked at Vremel and turned back to Jixie, “I think you know why.”

“I do, but I’m afraid that Sam is going to find them without you. He’s taking his squadron back to his last attack and I suspect the civilization that he attacked is searching for him.”

“They are.”

“We can’t defeat them.”

Pride nodded, “I think that will become apparent rather quickly if we bump heads with them.”

Jixie nodded, “That started me thinking. How many civilizations are out there that we can’t handle?”

Vremel said, “More than ten thousand.”

Jixie was stunned at the response, “I’ve not seen anywhere near that number.”

“That’s because you’ve not seen them in action.”

Jixie thought a moment and said, “I guess you’re right. I should be able to determine their capabilities by observing their ships.”

Pride said, “It’s like a fighter that is going to fight an opponent in a punching match. He had previously seen his opponent knock out three other fighters with a single right handed blow. They meet in the center of the fighting space and he says, “You have a great right hand.” His opponent responds with, “I’ve been told I have the best right hand punch of any fighter.” The fighter decides that he will avoid giving his opponent any opportunity to use his right hand during the match. They start the contest and in less than six seconds he’s knocked unconscious by his opponent’s left hand. When he finally comes to his senses he sees his opponent standing in front of him. He says, “Did I tell you I was left handed?”“

Jixie and Vremel laughed. Jixie said, “You really don’t know the ability of an opponent until they use their most powerful weapons.”

“Exactly, and some of these really nasty civilizations never have to use their best weapons.”

“How do you know about them?”

Vremel said, “That’s what my species does. We scout the forces we’re going to face and determine their strength. There are thousands of civilizations that could destroy the Realm if they knew we were here.”

Jixie sighed, “So what do we do about this current civilization we’ve angered?”

“They don’t know where we are at the moment. Our plan is to delay meeting these civilizations until we have developed the technology to take them on. However, Sam has jumped the gun and has taken the war to other places in creation. He doesn’t really listen to our cautions.”

“How was he able to defeat their fleet?”

“He lost three ships. That hadn’t happened before and the next time he runs into them, he’ll lose them all.”

Jixie thought a moment and said, “They have the frequency.”

Vremel nodded, “They do. It was evidently broadcast by one of the ships he destroyed.”

“His ship’s beams were able to penetrate their defenses.”

Pride nodded and said, “But it took numerous hits on their force fields to break through. The only thing that saved him was his ships’ ability to teleport so quickly. That won’t save them again. Their beams will be firing at a frequency, not their ships and fast teleporting will fail to save them.”

“Have you told, Sam?”

Pride shook his head, “No, I was waiting until after the wedding to let him know. Vremel had one of his warriors there after Sam destroyed their fleet and he saw them developing the frequency guided beams. We know it’s a death trap if he goes anywhere near that sector. They’re looking hard to find the ships that attacked their fleet.”

Jixie said, “We could defeat them if we could survive their beams.”

Vremel said, “Trust me on this, we’re nowhere close to developing a force field that can survive just one of their beams.”

Jixie stared at them and shook her head, “You’re saying this war is going to go on for centuries.”

Pride said, “Or millennia.”

“One last question; where does this civilization stack up to the other nasty ones?”

Vremel looked at Pride and said, “They’re in the bottom five percent.”

Jixie shook her head and disappeared.

Vremel said, “Do you think she’ll stop the Duke from going back?”

“You know him. What do you think?”

Vremel shook his head.

• • •

Jixie arrived at Castle Gardner and found Sam in the garden shooting arrows with Greg. She went to the garden and sat down on a bench. She felt her love for Sam and watched him go back and forth with Greg. “Beat that one you big dummy.”

Greg sited his bow on the target and hit one inch closer to the center of the bullseye. Sam threw his hands up and said, “You lucky…”

“Just admit you’re not that good.”

“Step aside and let a real archer show you how it’s done.”

Sam drew the bow back as far as he could pull it and released the arrow. Sam and Greg stared at the target and Greg said, “Where did your arrow go?”

Sam looked at the target with a furrowed brow and said, “I did use some extra force but I didn’t think I’d miss the target completely.”

“Then where did it go?”

Jixie chuckled, “Check the target.”

The two looked at Jixie and walked forward and examined the target. They found a round hole in the center of the target. They looked at each other and looked over the target and found the arrow buried in the ground. Sam jumped up and said, “Got ya!”

Jixie looked at the hole in the target and was mildly surprised that the arrow went through the target so fast it didn’t even move as it penetrated. Suddenly she yelled, “That’s it!”

The two looked at her and Sam said, “I know. I’ve finally beat this novice.”

Greg countered, “One win in a thousand isn’t a victory.”

“Sam, I need to discuss something with you.”

Greg reached for Sam’s bow and began collecting the arrows. “What is it?”

“Sam, that civilization you attacked when I found you has developed a system that will destroy your ships. You will all be killed if you go back.”

Sam sat beside Jixie, “Are you sure?”

“The Zord have scouted them and they’ve modified their ships to fire on the frequency of your ships. Even with fast teleportation they can hit you. They’re currently searching for you through out that quadrant.”

Sam stared at her and said, “There are other civilizations there that are being attacked by others that need our assistance.”

“If you go to help them, you will be found and attacked.”

“Jixie, I’ve added additional ships. I now have five hundred to use.”

Jixie shook her head, “Just one of their modified ships could destroy all five hundred faster than you’d believe. They have hundreds of thousands in their fleets.”

“We’ve just freed fifty planets from the Pack’s tyranny. You’re asking me to abandon them to this civilization.”

Jixie stared at Sam and said, “Getting our pilots killed along with them won’t prevent anything. I want you to promise to give me some time to see if we can’t find a way around their new beams.”

Sam nodded, “I’ll take the squadron out to another area to give them a training run and before I go back, I’ll talk with you first.”

“Fair enough.”

• • •

“Sprigly, do you have a moment?”

“I do.”

“I’m on my way.” Jixie appeared at the Algean ship building facility and found Sprigly with six of his engineers working on a tiny ship. Sprigly turned and Jixie said, “What is this?”

“It’s our newest attack craft.”

“Sprigly, this is little more than an escape pod.”

“Don’t let its size fool you. It’s the most powerful ship that’s ever been built.”

Jixie looked at the ship and found an expression in her mind that matched the moment, “Get outta here.”

Sprigly shook with his laughter and said, “What do you need, Your Highness?”

“You know about the ships that Sam killed in his last battle?”

“I do.”

“Is this ship able to take them on?”

“Certainly.”

“What if those ships have their beams able to lock on the frequency of a ship to target them?”

Sprigly suddenly leaned back and said, “Are they able to do that fast enough?”

“They are. The Zord confirmed it.”

Sprigly raised his branches, “No, no ship we have is able to survive the power of their beams. This new ship has more powerful weapons and teleports at a much faster speed than Sam’s current ships. The force field is no stronger than his current model. If what you say is true, it wouldn’t be wise to be anywhere near those ships.”

Jixie said, “I watched Sam fire an arrow through a target and the target didn’t even move a micrometer as it passed through the target.”

Sprigly smiled, “That’s what happens when an object is moving at high velocities. On Earth it has been recorded that a hurricane can blow straw through a tree and not even leave a hole.”

“How would they know if it didn’t leave a hole?”

“Because some of them are sticking out of the tree on the side away from the blowing wind.”

“Does this ship have the absorbing skin?”

“It does and it’s really efficient.”

“Could that skin absorb the beams fired at it?”

“No, there is a limit to how fast it can absorb that much energy.”

“What if it didn’t absorb it?”

Sprigly leaned left showing his confusion.

“What if the beam was allowed into the skin, but was ejected on the opposite side of the ship instead of absorbing it.”

Sprigly stood there for a minute and Jixie saw the speed of his mind looking at the question. A modern computer would have taken years to do the same process. “Your idea has merit, but I’m not certain it could handle that powerful beam.”

“It wouldn’t arrive at the ship at full power. Wouldn’t the force field remove some of its power?”

Sprigly took a branch and hit his top, “You’re right. It wouldn’t be as strong.” Sprigly turned and thought to the engineers, “Stop everything. Stop what you’re doing.”

Sprigly turned to Jixie, “I’ll let you know how this works out. I need to focus on this issue.”

Jixie smiled, “Please keep me updated on what you discover.”

Sprigly waved a branch at her and said, “I will.” Jixie saw the he was ignoring her in his sudden rush to look at the details of what she suggested.

“That is a violation of the conventions.”

Jixie sighed, “Senior, will you keep your opinions to yourself.”

“It’s not an opinion. You’ve given advanced technology to them.”

Jixie felt her anger go up, “And what technology is that?”

The Senior was silent looking for a response and Jixie felt his frustration. “Did they have the absorbing skin? Did they have the force field? Did they have the technology to eject items from their hulls? The answers are yes, yes, and yes. There’s no new technology here, just a suggestion on how they can use what they have. We’ve been doing that since we first started the study. Take it up with the High Caste and let them tell you you’re losing your objectivity. Now stay out of my study. I know the conventions and I know better than to violate them.”

“You’re showing inappropriate respect for my position!”

“When you start acting respectfully, I’ll show it to you.”

The Elder listened to the exchange and wondered what was happening with the Senior. He shared the discussion with the other Elders and they began looking for the reason.